Reading some of the comments made on Hockey-L recently, I couldn't help but
throw my own 2-cents worth in.
 
First off, regarding the NCAAs, I totally disagree with some folks' assertions
that the tournaments mean nothing but money. The tournament is a culmination of
an entire hockey season; virtually every team has an "up" time and a "down"
period. (Naturally, some teams have more than others). The bottom line is that
the truly great teams peak at the right time of the year, and if you're REALLY
good, then you win when it matters--in your conference final, and the NCAAs.
 
Secondly, I'm STILL confused as to who gets an automatic bid. Is it the regular
season champ? The tourney AND reg. season champ? Or do you have to win BOTH to
get an automatic bid? PLEEEEASE, someone clear this up!
 
Onto the tournament...Regarding Eastern seeds, if we're to go on the basis of
the National Polls and rankings seen throughout the year, then the Top 4 Eastern
seeds are virtually a lock at this point (barring upsets in the tourneys, of
course):
 
1. MAINE
2. BOSTON UNIV  (Both will get byes; the team that wins the Tourney will be #1)
3. CLARKSON
4. NEW HAMPSHIRE
5. ???
6. ???
 
Now, the 5th and 6th slots. This is where it gets tricky. Assuming that there'll
be 2 remaining slots to the East (and the voids will NOT be filled by the likes
of a Lake State or Wisconsin), here are some probable scenarios:
 
FOR HOCKEY EAST...Let's say that Lowell upsets BU and makes the tournament
final. Even if they play Maine--and lose--in the Tourney final, there's a strong
chance they'll be NCAA bound. If, however, they lose against BU, and are beaten
by PC in the Consolation game (a distinct possibility), the UML season will be
o-v-e-r, because PC will have beaten UML twice within the last two weeks of the
season (and that will include a 7-0 end-of-the-regular-season, at-Lowell
shutout). PC is EXTREMELY hot, but--even being a Friar fan--I assume they'll
have to win the tourney in order to get an NCAA bid. As for the Huskies,
Northeastern was cooked following UML's strong 5-2 win at NE last weekend.
 
FOR THE ECAC...I hate to say it, but there's a strong chance in my mind that
there may be only one ECAC participant this year. If Clarkson rolls through the
ECAC final, I believe that they could be the only ECAC team to make it. The
entire conference, for my money, is filled with mediocre teams that have--for
the most part--all shown that they cannot develop any type of consistency. No
one has any type of outstanding record in this conference except for Clarkson,
and I don't believe the notion that all of the ECAC teams are strong, and that
parity is the explanation for what's happened in the ECAC this year. For
example, Brown ended up 2nd in the league, but went 0-2-1 versus Hockey East
opponents (PC, UNH, UML) all at HOME in January (and were outscored 15-7 in
those three games). However, they still managed to beat up on their ECAC
counterparts for the majority of the year.
 
Now, I honestly don't know enough about how Colgate or RPI is playing right now
(if one of them makes a run in Lake Placid, reaches the final and/or beats
Clarkson, obviously they'll get into the NCAAs), but I will say this: does some
ECAC team--other than Clarkson--boast bigger wins, a better record, and a
stronger schedule than a Western team who could (potentially) fill their place
in the Tourney??? (i.e. Wisconsin or Lake State?). Comparitively speaking, The
caliber of play in Hockey East been exceptional this year. No offense to Brown,
but any one of the HE playoff games (except maybe Umass-Maine) was on a much
higher skill level than the Princeton-Brown games I saw at Meehan over last
weekend. Even if a 2nd ECAC team gets into the NCAAs, will they have a real shot
at actually winning a game?
 
WESTERN SEEDS--As far as I can tell, Wisconsin and Lake State will be duking it
out for one of the two remaining Eastern seeds. It looks very much like 7
Western teams will be into the tournament. (Maybe BOTH of them will get in??
Sounds outrageous, but stranger things HAVE happened).
 
Finally, regarding the idea that Clarkson could be sent out West as one of the
Top 4 Western Seeds: Honestly, folks, this is a ludicrous idea. I don't believe
it's EVER happened (in this particular format) that a Top-4 Eastern squad has
been sent West to play the competition there. As much as I respect Bruce Crowder
and Lowell, there's no way that UML deserved to play in Albany last year as one
of the Top 4 Eastern teams. The seeding was correct in that situation--they
weren't sent out West because they don't draw enough of a fan base, but because
they weren't one of the top 4 Eastern teams at that time.
 
At any rate, it's great to get this MARCH (HOCKEY) MADNESS talk going, even IF
some of the discussion has been filed with Oliver Stone-like "NCAA conspiracy"
paranoia!
 
Andy Dursin
Boston College '97
LET'S GO FRIARS!